Faster response times and more coordination between first responders are needed to improve patient care, B.C.’s auditor general says.

In her report released Wednesday, Carol Bellringer said B.C. Emergency Health Services is undergoing a major change to better deliver care, but response times are still sometimes too long and coordination between paramedics and fire departments need to be better.

The audit, for the period running April 2016 to December 2017, says ambulances in urban areas reached their nine-minute response time target on 50 per cent of life-threatening calls. Meanwhile, responses in rural areas reached their 15-minute target 79 per cent of time, and the 30-minute target in remote areas was achieved 77 per cent of the time.

When emergency response-time targets are not met, Bellringer said, patients may not be receiving care when they need it.

Bellringer said paramedics work with fire departments, often arriving to the same scene. But due to paramedics being employed by the province, and fire departments falling under city jurisdiction, communication is often uncoordinated.

BC EHS has been hiring more paramedics and buying more ambulances since 2017. Officials have also been pursuing alternatives to traditional emergency response – going to a patient and taking them to an emergency room.

But data from 2018 indicates only a slight improvement in urban response times on calls to 51 per cent.

The service is now looking into providing medical advice over the phone, transporting patients to health clinics instead of hospitals, and having paramedics provide treatment inside homes, specifically for people with chronic illnesses.